Curtain-fixture.



c. L, HOBKINS. CURTAIN FIXTURE.

A APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1906.

924,781. Patented ,June 15, 1909.

, Il? M1 UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES L. HOPKINS, or CHICAGO,l ILLINOIS, AssICN'oR To THE CURTAIN SUPPLY COMPANY, OE NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

Specification of IfettersPatent. i Patented .Tune 15, 1909.

Application led. September 2'2, 1906. Serial N.` 335,678.

To @ZI 'whom it may concern: Be It known that I, CHARLES L. HOPKINS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of fmove in grooves or guideways in the windowframe as the curtain is raised or lowered, and,

more particularly, to fixtures wherein .the

yheads are provided with means .adapted to engage; the bottoms of the grooves'in-which these headsmove and, by such engagement, to begrestrained from movement along the grooves vunder the influence of the spring shade-roller.

4One of the objects of this invention is to produce a device of the above-outlined class which is capable Vof maintaining itself in its properhorizont'al position under the carelessl and unskilful handling to which such devices `are subjected when used upon street and;

railway cars.

Another object of this invention is to 1pro `duce a device of this kind which is simp construction and economical to manufacture.

In the accomplishment of these objects I employ a tubular curtain-'stick carried by the curtain at or near its lower edge, and provide this stick at its ends With heads adapted to move in the grooves in the window-casing as the curtainis. raised or lowered. heads are extended above and below the These plane ofthe stick and are provided with spring means for thrustingthem outward with rela-1 tion to the stick, or toward the bottoms of the grooves. In each end of a head I mount a Wheel or roller ada ted to engage the window-frame andto ro l along the same as the curtain is raised or lowered. I also provide `means adapted to cooperate with these rollers or wheels whereby each of said wheels is caused to rotate with greater yfreedom at one point in the rotation thereof than at another point in said rotation.` By this means the ixture and the curtain carrying said fixture are given a tendency to stop at certain points along thewindow-'cas'ing. YWhen it is desired to raise or lower the curtain the latter is moved u or down by the hand of the o perator app ed at the bottom ofthe curtain,

e in

10 is the curtain.

the wheels being forced along the groove in the window-casing. When the curtain is released -the upward tendency'irnparted to the same by its spring-roller will cause the wheels "to roll along the Window-frame until" these wheels arrive at the oints in their rotation at which said whees are most retarded,

whereu on the` upward tendency of the curtain wil be overcome by the tendency of the 4Wheels to remain stationary in their bearings in the head. The curtain will now remain stationary until force is applied to raise or lower the same.- r

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in elevation oneend of my improved curtain Jfixture and a portion of a curtain. In this figure the parts are shown 'in their normal orholding position. Fig. 2 shows the same, partlyin section. `Figj2zL shows the same in edge elevation. Fig. 3 shows the head in section, the Wheels' being rotated to a position in which they do not `exert their greatest holding power. Fig. 4` shows the wheels in the position at which ltheyexert the least holding power. Fig. 5 is a view, partly in section and partly in eleva tion, showing a Vmodified form of head.

Fig. 6 shows enlarged, in edge and. broken side elevation, the form of this device.

In the several figures of these drawings, The tubular stick 11 is carried in a pocket 12 formed in the materialof .the curtain `10. the end Vof the lstick 11 is the head 13, the latter being 'vertically elongated and having a stem leproject ing into the stick 11. JWithin the stick is a spring 14a adapted to exert an outward .ressure upon the stem 14 oi the head 13.

wheel used in v n .each end of the head 13 'is rotatably mounted a wheel or roller I15. These wheels 15 are formed with trunnions 17, the latter being supported in elongated bearings consisting oi' slots 16.' Each Oi the wheels 15 is formed with a groove 18, this groove being of unequal depth at different portions of its length around the wheel. This groove 18 may beconveniently -formed by turning in a lathe, the wheel being held in the chuck of the lathe somewhat o center. By this means the hub-like portion 19 which is not cut away but is left to connect the nearly severed halves of the wheel is caused to be somewhat removed from the center oi' rotation of the wheel, this center OI' rotation being, of course, a line passing through the centers of the trunnions 17.`

In each end of the head 13 is arranged a member 20, adapted to embrace the eccentrically-disposed portion 19 of the Wheel. In the form of the device shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, this member 2() is rigidly secured in the head 13, by rivets or otherwise, andV is provided with projections 21 22 between which is confined the eccentrically-disposed portion 19 of the wheel 15. N hen the wheel 15 is rotated the trunnions V17 of such wheel are caused to reciprocate in the elongated bearings 16. As these bearings Vor slots 16 extend in a direction parallel to the length of the head, and to the direction of movement of the wheels and head along the window-casing, it is evident that the centers of rotationoi the wheels will always be at the same distance from the bottom of the groove but will move up and down, as the wheels are rotated.

The spring curtain-roller (not shown) is of the continuously-acting type, as is usual on curtains provided Ywith holding devices, and exerts upon the curtain a constant upward pull. As the wheels 15 are held in engagement with the bottoms of the grooves by the outward pressure of the spring 14, andthe tendency of the curtain and its holding fixture are to move upward under the influence of the spring curtain-roller, these wheels would be caused to roll upward along the window-frame if there were no conditions present tending to prevent their rotation. The trunnions on the wheels are held in engagement with the vinner sides of the slots 16, being pressed back into such engagement. The effect of this is to cause these trunnions to tend to roll downward toward the bottoms of these slots, to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. When the curtain is released, if the wheels 15 are not in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the device will run up for a short distance or until the trunnions 17 are at the lower ends of the slots 16, as shown in these figures. If, now, the device be forced up or down along the window-frame, the wheels 15 will be forced to rotate, and, by reasonk of the fact that the eccentrically-disposed hub-like portion 19 is confined between the arms 21 and 22 of the member 20, the trunnions 17 are forced to move upward in the slots 16. As shown in'Fig. 3, the trunnions 17 are ascending or descendingy in the slots 16, while in Fig. 4 these wheels are shown with the trunnions at the upper limit of their movement in the slots 16. As the iiXture is moved along the groove in the window-frame in adjusting the curtain up or down, the wheels rotate with a jerky movement, offering greater resistance to being rotated while the trunnions are moving upward in the slots than when these trunnions are moving downward in the slots. When the curtain is released from the hand of the operator it will tend to run upward under the influence of the spring roller, but if the springs 14a which press the wheels 15 into engagement with the window-frame are Vof suflicient strength in proportion to the strength of the spring in the springvcurtainroller the device will come to rest when the wheels are at the point in their rotation at which the trunnions are at the downward limit of their movement in their bearing.

' In Fig. 5 is shown a form of device wherein an elongated member 23 is pivoted at its inner end and has its outer end formed with an opening in which lies the eccentricallydisposed, hub-like portion of the wheel.`

This member 23 serves to confine the hublike portion of the wheel 15 so as to compel the trunnions 17 to move up and down in the slots 16 while the wheels are rolling along the window-frame.

It will be seen that in the device described herein and shown in the accompanying drawings, the Wheels which are mounted in the heads are adapted to serve as holding means to resist the upward tendency of the curtain, but these wheels are not positively braked and thus caused to slide along the windowframe when the curtain is adjusted by grasping the same and pushing it up or pulling it down. In this device, the wheels rotate when the curtain is adjusted in this manner, but tend to stop at determinate points in their rotation, and when the curtain is released it comes to rest with the wheels at the points in their rotation at which they tend to stop. I.

I claim as my invention 1. In a curtain-iiXture, the combination with a curtain-stick, of a head at the end thereof, a wheel mounted in said head, means ing said wheel into engagement with the window-frame, said wheel adapted to rotate y in said head, and to have bodily movement in said head, and means for causing said wheel to reciprocate vertically in said head during both the upward and downward rolling movement of the wheel on the window frame. Y

2,. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a curtain stick, of a vheadat the end thereof, a wheel mounted insaid head means for yieldinglyholding said wheel in engagement with the window-frame, bearings for said wheel inthe head adapted to permit rotary movementY of said wheel and bodily movement ofthe same in the head in a line parallel with the direction of movement of the wheel along the window-frame, and means adapted to cause said wheel to reciprocate in said bearings as the device is moved in either direction along the window-frame.

3. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of a curtain-stick, a head at the end of the stick,

said head being extended above and beloW the plane of the stick and having mounted therein a Wheel above the stick and a Wheel below the stick, means l'or `pressing said Wheels into engagement With the WindoW- frame, and means carried by the head, adapted to cause the Wheels to reciprocate longitudinally of the head While the device is being movedrin either direction along the WindoW-'frame 4. In a curtain-xture, the combination of i a stickhaving a head at its end, spring-means Within the stick for thrusting the head outward, a Wheel in saidhead above the plane of the stick, a Wheel in the head below the plane of the stick, elongated bearings for said Wheels, said Wheels having trunnions in said bearings, and means for causing the trunnions to reciprocate in said bearings as the CHARLES L. HOPKINS.

Witnesses: Y

SAMUEL N. POND, WALTER M. FULLER. 

